i'm a pretty punctual guy most days. The kind of punctual where you'll tell me to meet at 7:30 and I'm there at 7. I say I'm 5 minutes away, but I'm really more like two and a half. Tell me a party's starting at 8:30, and I'll be the first person there right at 8:30. Sometimes I'm too rigid with time. I see my bus app say the bus is 2 minutes away, and start feeling twinges of anxiety when it's been 3 minutes and there's no bus.

But someone who's blatantly late with no excuse? That shit does not fly with me at all.

Don't tell me you're gonna be there for 10 and then show up nearly an hour late without so much as a 'sorry'. Don't say you'll pick me up at 11 and then call AT 11 saying that you're just leaving. Don't waltz in 2 minutes before the gig and say "it's cool, man, I made it!" and do NOT show up to the gig 'fashionably late' because you're too busy primping in the mirror. BE ON TIME. 9 times out of 10 you have no excuse to be late.

Now hey, to be fair, I get it; not every late person is lazy. Shit happens. A car rolled over in front of you; some jerk held the bus up arguing with the driver; the subway broke down; your car wouldn't start. Just unexpected stuff that throws you off your game. Most of those incidents result in a call to your boss apologizing for your lateness, and assuring it won't happen again (even though you have no control over extraneous events like that) and they usually are more lenient with you.

But for those people who think that 10pm is just a guideline or that you shouldn't call whomever to say that you're running late, or if you just suck at telling time, then you need to do one of the following: Get a freaking clock. Set your freaking alarm. Leave 5, 10, or even 20 minutes earlier. shorten your morning routine by prepping at night. Take a shorter shower. Be efficient when you get ready. Most importantly, if you're gonna be late, CALL OR TEXT. I will respect you more if you foresee lateness and give me a heads up. Just give me some sort of advance notice so I can adjust my plans accordingly instead of finding out after the fact. Don't just show up late and mumble a 'sorry' or feign emotion.

tonight i wasted three hours of my life on transit because people were 'running late' and I had to call the involved parties in order to find that out. TWICE. Three hours I won't get back; three hours I could have spent at home watching Netflix.

All because people were 'running late'.